Hunt the Fire
by etcetera-cat
Summary: Border life is hard and for Saffri- an outcast in her own village- it's even harder. Then she starts getting these funny feelings in her head...
1. Hunter, stalker

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, it ain't mine….if it was then I'd be Mercedes Lackey and have lots of money, rather than being a poor, overdrawn etcetera-cat with no money at all sob sob ~cat looks at evil-cat~ Well it could work you know, and if it does guess who'll be not joining me on a tropical island? ~evil-cat mutters, cat ignores her~

Anyway! First fic, first Valdemar fic, so be nice! J Please review, but no flamers…cos that'll make me depressed and evil-cat'll get all sarcastic and when she gets like that she forgets to feed the blue pills to cat-astrophe, and before you know it, we'll have cat-astrophe trying to clog dance on the ceiling again, which is murder on the artex….

**Chapter One- Hunter, stalker.**

  The early evening sunlight lanced through the foliage, turning the woodland floor into a many-coloured mosaic of light and dark.  The bucolic scene was completed by the scattered furry forms of grazing rabbits, busily inhaling the lush grass dotted round the clearing.

  A slight rustle in the undergrowth at the side of the clearing caused no few ears to twitch and one of the warren bucks reared up, ready to thump an alarm.  When nothing further happened the buck returned to grazing.  This meant that the rabbit never saw the lead shot that thudded between his ears, killing him instantly, the sharp cracking noise scattering the other rabbits.

  The sudden silence was broken by more rustling from the bushes, this time the cause of the sound was revealed as a slight girl who wiggled free of the bushes, retaining no small amount of them in her hair, and trotted across the clearing to retrieve the lead shot and the rabbit.

  ~'lright! My third one today…lesse, two fer mum for dinner an' I reckon Old Ma Keman'll trade this'un for summat good.~

  Saffri scooped up the rabbit and shot and returned to her hidey hole in the bushes to retrieve a further two dead rabbits, contemplating what in the way of edible treats a fat bunny would coax of Ma Keman.

  Stringing the rabbits together and slinging them over one shoulder Saffri started to head back to the village, pausing to brush an untoward scrap of hair out of her eyes.  The pause became somewhat longer as Saff attempted to run her fingers through the tangled morass of hair on her head and encountered enough woody foliage to start a fire.

  _~A small fire, but a fire nonetheless.  Eesh, I'd better clean up before anyone sees me and tells mum an' she has kittens.  Again.~_

  Changing direction so that she intercepted a small stream Saffri dumped her gear and attempted a clean up, brushing loam and foliage off her much-worn dark green rough spun tunic and trousers, before plunging her hands and arms into the cold water.

  _~Eesh!  Cold!  Very cold…now if only I had some- aha!~_

Spying the soaproot plant Saff yanked up some of it and began scrubbing at her arms.  After she had rinsed them off she looked down at the shaky reflection staring back at her.

  Deep green eyes set in a ghostly pale face, hours spent outside only adding a scattering of freckles rather than a tan.  Hawk like nose and a stubborn mouth completed a wholly original face.  Crowning this visage was a permanently tangled mass of dark brown hair.

_  ~Oh, right.  Cos I'm such a beauty to gawp at.~_

Sighing Saff scraped her hair back, removing as much of the dead leaves and twigs as she could, and levered herself to her feet and struck out for the game trail that headed back to the village.

~***~

  Reaching the outskirts of the village, Saff listened, with her ears and with the inner sense in her head.  Satisfied that all she could sense was the normal rumblings of a rural Border village she made her way quickly towards her family's house, skitting from shadow to shadow, not a great task in the fading light of the autumn day.

  Upon making the house she slipped through the ajar door.  Right into her mother.

  "Saffri Rahda!  Where _have_ you _been_ child?"  Nerla Rahda trilled, arms akimbo.  "I have been worried sick.  You didn't return with your brothers and I can't _stand_ the thought of you out in the Forest on your own.  Who _knows_ what might attack you!"

  Nerla took a deep breath, obviously intent on indulging in her second favourite pastime, vapouring at her only daughter.  Before she could launch into full voice Saff interrupted her.

  "Eesh! Mum, c'mon!  You know I can shoot better than Deek an' Arzzi.  And there's nowt that's dangerous out there, tis only the Forest."

  "The Pelagiris Forest young lady, as well you know."

  "Mum, you know it's been cleansed and the Hawkbrothers only passed through last season."

  "That is besides the point!  You are my _daughter_ Saffri, my _only_ daughter.  You should be helping me and embroidering things for your dower, not gallivanting about the Forest like a Changechild!"

  Nerla's tirade against her wayward offspring was cut short by the clattering arrival of Arzzi and Deek, Saffri's two elder brothers.  Both of the men shared with Saffri the green eyes and dark hair of their father, unlike her however, they also sported heavily tanned skin, a mark of the hours both spent outdoors.

  Compared with the rest of her family, Nerla was most definitely the odd one out, with her honey blonde hair, roses and cream complexion and china blue eyes.

  Deek looked from Saffri's sullen face to his mother's indignation filled one, as seventeen year old Arzzi beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen.

  "Hey now, what are my two favourite ladies arguing about?"  Deek inquired placatingly.

  His question was met with stony silence from both sides.  Seeking to brighten the atmosphere, Deek's eyes fell on the rabbits still slung over Saff's shoulder.

  "Hey now!"  He exclaimed enthusiastically, "Look what our Saff's brought home for dinner."

  _~Oh no.~_  Saff thought with a groan, _~Deek…why'd ya have to mention the buns? Mum is going to go mental now…mention my hunting when she's in the middle of the 'Why Aren't You A Lady?' speech…eesh!  Not a good plan brother dear.~ _

  Saffri knew that she was being unkind to her brother, he wasn't to know what he and Arzzi had walked in on.  As these thought ran round Saff's head her mother's gaze locked on the offending rabbits and her mouth pressed into a thin line.

  _~Now I'm for it.~_

  "Really Saffri!  You shouldn't be killing things!  You're a lady and my daughter.  Why don't you do embroidery?  I know that Lorshi has some new patterns in and I'm sure that she'd _love _to share them with you.  It would also make me happy, Lorshi is _such_ a nice girl and so ladylike…  Maybe I could arrange for you and…"

  Saffri's attention wandered and she lost track of what her mother was saying and it all blurred into a kind of low level aggrieved worrying that flowed round Saff and made the inside of her head itch.

  _~Why aren't you a Lady?  Why don't you like embroidery?  That is _all_ she ever goes on about.  That and what a _lovely_ girl Lorshi is.  Feh.  Lovely like a snake.  Nice to look at, but get on her wrong side an' you get bitten…I hate her I really do.  Her and the rest of them.  Acting like they're Haven courtiers rather that village merchant's brats.  And I know they hate me.  I can _feel_ it.~_

  Saff sighed internally and glanced at Deek, who was now included in their mother's tirade.

  "…I don't understand why you had to teach her all those things.  It really is not _suitable _for a lady to outshoot her potential spouses!  A lady should be impressed by a man's hunting prowess not vice versa!"

  Nerla paused for breath, looking slightly flushed.

  _~Marriage?!  I'm fourteen!  Lord and Lady…~_

  "And speaking of ladies," Nerla was off again, "you, Deek.  You're twenty!  And still no wife, or even the hint of anything."

  "Ah now mum, please-"  Deek injected, flushing a bright red.

  Before either Deek could continue or Nerla could ride roughshod over his objections Arzzi's voice called from the kitchen.

  "Mother, the dinner is about to burn."

  "Well take it off the range then you silly boy!"  Nerla exclaimed and vanished into the kitchen.

  In the now silent hall Deek and Saffri looked at each other.  Deek cleared his throat.  "I'm sorry Saff, I shoulda guessed that'd set 'er off."

  "Don't worry about it Dee.  She never really stops.  I just blank her out."

  "Maybe if you went along with her plan… y'know got friendly with Lorshi.  That cou-"

  Saffri looked levelly at her elder brother.  "I'd sooner eat argonel soaked mycofoetida Dee.  And I'm sure Lorshi feels the same."  

  Deek looked uneasy.  "Now Saff, Lorshi and her friends aren't that bad."

"You think so?"  Before Deek could reply Saff turned and stalked into the kitchen.

~***~

  Later, much later Saffri sat at her bedroom window, staring blankly out at the dark mass of the Pelagirs, swaying in the night time breeze.  Downstairs she could hear the rest of her family, Deek and Arzzi discussing the harvest with her father and her mother clattering in the kitchen.

  _~Funny how she weeps and wails at me for being a woods-wild changling but will end up quite happily using the bunnies I got fer pies.~_

  Saffri yawned as exhaustion began to catch up with her.  Sighing she pulled the window to and crawled into bed.

  Maybe things would look better in the morning.


	2. Brooding Lessons

~evil-cat saunters in and erects a large sign reading Danger! Angst!~

~cat looks at it~ Well that's a bit extreme, tis not _that_ bad…. ~trails off as evil-cat whispers in her ear~ Oh…well yes I suppose there is that…ummm…yes...note the sign people…  On a brighter note! Thank you to my reviewers!  The checks are in the post! ~evil-cat indicates that due to etcetera-cat's status of student, the checks are of proton money, and any attempt to cash them will result in explosions, death destruction, and a surplus of bananas~  Yes well…we know you don't like bananas dear, but those people could like them, in which case a surplus of them would be welcome. ~evil-cat thinks there will not be a welcome for these bananas~

~cat sighs~ Well…you lot on with the fic!! ~shooes people in the direction of the story~ I have to go sort out the evil one before she starts with the anti-banana leaflet campaigns again……..

**Chapter Two- Brooding Lessons.**

_  ~…look better in the morning… How wrong could I be?~ _ Saff thought wistfully as she stared out of the window of the village church.

  As per the Law, all Valdemaran children had to be taught reading, writing and figuring by the local Priest.  Until recently the children of Bolten had had to make their way to the nearby village of Asten, as Bolten itself had a church, but no Priest since old Father Malken had died of a brainstorm two winters ago.  

  This had all changed when Father Jaric had arrived in the spring.  Much to the delight of Orst, the Mayor of Bolten, Father Jaric was a Priest of Astera, to be based in Bolten itself.

  The majority of the villagers had immediately taken to the charismatic new Priest.  The notable exceptions to this were Ma Keman, the village Herb Healer (and in the opinion of most of the village; crackpot) and Saffri.

  With reluctance Saff dragged her eyes from the window and fixed them on a point just to the left of Father Jaric's grey-robed form, in an attempt to feign interest in the lesson.

  The tall, saturnine priest was holding forth on Changecircles and the dangers thereof, pacing back and forth in front of the class, black eyes sweeping the classroom, one hand occasionally straying to his forehead, as if he was developing a headache.

  Saffri couldn't tell if he was or not, as he was the only person she'd encountered who she couldn't hear in the back of her head.  He made her think of a stone, cold and dark, with no thoughts or feelings.

  For as long as she could remember Saff could hear things that weren't said.  Not out loud at any rate.

  _~At first I told people, and got patted on the head for my active imagination and my stories about the animals in the Forest.  Then they got suspicious of know-it-all Saff, 'Changechild Tree-girl'.~_

  She hadn't been able to block out the voices, so had gotten used to her head being the nexus point of every random thought and internal grumble in the village.

  _~Well… I coped.  I didn't run mad with a cleaver.  I just stayed away from people, stayed in the Forest.  At least the wolves and owls don't fling silent accusations and buried secrets at me.~_

  By the time Saffri was twelve she had learned that if she pushed hard enough with her mind she could dim the voices, and, unless they were emotionally charged, blocked them out entirely.  Since that point Saff had begun to use her 'knack' actively, to scout for likely animals on a hunt and to watch for trouble to be avoided.

  _~Trouble like Lorshi, nose in the air bitch.  And the rest of them.  Cowards the lot of them.~_

  As always, thinking about 'Lorshi's Court'  caused Saff stomach to clench and a sour taste announced itself into the back of her throat.

  Lorshi was the daughter of Mayor Orst.  An only child who was doted on by her parents and had her every whim indulged.  Lorshi was also petty minded and creatively cruel, in the way that only some children could be.

  Despite being simply the daughter of a rural village Mayor, Lorshi acted like she was a Lady of the High Court itself.  In keeping with this Lorshi had collected the children of the village of Bolten around her, in a parody of a Court's social coteries.  The one exception to this was Saffri.  Saffri the loner.  Saffri the freak.  Saffri Tree-girl.  Lorshi shared Nerla's ideas of how a girl should act, and Saffri most decidedly did _not _fit these.

  _~And I didn't fit in.  Not in any way.  I could out hunt the boys and would rather sit in a rainstorm than titter about nonsense and mimic Court fashions.  Which in Lorshi's eyes made me a threat… and a target.~_

  Saffri-baiting became the main pastime of Lorshi's Court, but only out of sight of the adults.  Saffri also knew that it was no use complaining to anyone, in the eyes of the village Lorshi's Court was endearing and innocent and Saffri was the half-mad loner.  The child who's own mother had been heard to wonder if her girl little had not been swapped with a changling as a babe.

  Saff was roused from her nebulous thoughts by the sensation of wet on her cheek.  Raising her hand she realised it was caused by a wad of wet paper, launched at her by Garen, one of Lorshi's cronies.  Glaring at him she wiped her cheek clean, ignoring the muffled giggles and whispered taunts.

  _"That'll teach you to wit wander Tree-girl."_

_  "Freak.  Saffri the freak!"_

  Shaken out of her reverie Saff became aware of the pounding headache she was developing and the fact that her eyes were tearing up.

  _~Oh, Gods.  I can't cry in front of them.~_

  Unsure whether the incipient tears were caused by the whispered comments or the sharp pain that was lancing between her eyes and through her head, Saff blinked furiously and kept her head down for the remainder of the lesson, which luckily, wasn't for long.  The Holy Father also seemed to be suffering from a headache, his skin had turned an odd shade of green and he was sweating heavily.

  "Children, you may go."  This was said in almost a groan as the Father slid down into his chair.  Waving away the concerned fawning of Lorshi and Garen he indicated that everyone should leave.

  Saffri didn't need telling twice, she was up and out of the door of the classroom, into the main chapel and away before anyone could corner her or trip her up.

  Upon reaching her house Saff peered through the window, with eyes that watered furiously and refused to focus.  _~Damn, mum's in the kitchen…eesh my head!~_

  As quietly as she could, Saffri balanced her slate and other school things on the doorstep and eeled her way out of the garden.  Just as she reached the picket fence marking the edge of the village her mother's voice rang out behind her.

  "Saffri! Get back here young lady!"

  Pretending not to hear, Saff hopped the fence and vanished into the Forest, running as fast as her pounding head and fast evaporating sense of balance would allow.

~***~

  Marks later, or so it seemed, after crashing through undergrowth and bushes like a blinded pig Saff dropped to the ground next to a small pond, lungs and legs aching, gasping breaths like sobs.

_  ~It hurts.  It really hurts.~_

  Saff gasped and clutched at her head, scrabbling and rubbing at it as if to pull out the pain, both physical and mental.

  It wasn't just a headache.  As the pain had increased, back there, in the classroom, she hadn't been able to keep her concentration on pushing the others out of her mind, and worse, once she'd lost some of the wall she always imagined she was pushing against, the rest of it seemed to crumble, almost as if someone was pulling it down.

  As the wall had fallen _they_ had flooded into Saff's head, a seething mass of petty cruelty and eye-jarring colours.  Silent taunts and acidic green contempt had washed over her, and Saff had been caught, drowning.  Not able to block them out, she had been forced to listen.

  Now, out in the silence of the Forest Saffri attempted to push her wall upright, to block out everything.  It wouldn't raise.  The village was still there in her mind, a blurred mass of acid green and ichor yellow off to the east, and above she could Hear the mindless preening of a wood pigeon.

  _~Work!  Work damn you! Please…please work…~  _Shouting at the wall, pleading with it, made no difference.  Saffri still felt like her mind was impossibly full of other people, other minds, and achingly empty of herself.

  Curling into a foetal position, tears soaking her hair and the ground, Saffri Felt her mind flow outwards, like smoke on the breeze.  Like smoke she could feel it shredding and tattering, spreading out and out into nothingness.  Just when she thought she could stand no more a darkness, blessed oblivion swooped down on her and carried her off.


	3. First Flickers

~evil-cat enters stage left and sets up a stand with the sign above reading; Valium, £1 a pill! Great Deal!!~

evil!  Will you stop trying to exploit these people!!  And don't think that I can't see the anti-banana leaflets under that table missy, you just put them in the bin right now!

~cat turns away with a sigh~ Disclaimer time pookys!  I'm not Mercedes Lackey (note the non-American-ness, lack of literary talent and absence of any parrots) therefore, if you recognise anything it follows that it isn't mine!  

**Chapter Three- First Flickers.**

  The bitter wind sighed through the bare branches of the trees.  Branches raised to the sun, like claws straining to reach it, to draw it closer and cage it's warmth.

  The Pelagirs in winter were hostile and unforgiving, the only surcease being in the rural villages, oasis' of light and warmth in the ice riddled darkness of the land.

  _~Unless you happen to be named Saffri Rahda.  In which case freezing in the Forest is infinitely preferable to choking on the thoughts and contempt of the entire village.~_  Saffri thought bleakly as she coaxed the small pile of twigs into flame, gasping in relief as the fire caught she restrained herself and slowly added larger branches, rather than flinging fuel at the fire and smothering it.

  _~Eesh, I wish I were a Mage or something.  Then I could make as big a fire as I wanted, or use a spell to keep me warm or _something_.~_  

  Saff hunched over the fire in a vain attempt to absorb all of the heat from it.  Despite it being near Midwinter she was spending more time in the Forest than before in a hope of distancing herself from the rest of Bolten.  If she wasn't around people, she didn't have to remember she was a person.  And if she wasn't a person, then it followed that she didn't have feelings.  If you didn't have feelings then you couldn't be hurt.  

  Things had gone downhill for Saffri since the autumn, impossible and as laughable as that had seemed a scant three months ago.

  That day, the day of the headache had been the start of it.  Since then Saffri hadn't been able to build the wall around her mind, not properly.  Before she had pictured her wall as built of bricks and stone, strong enough to keep most things out.  Strong enough to protect her.  Now her walls were weak, built out of banks of sand and shards of pottery; ineffective and easily breached.

  No wall, or as near to no wall as made scant difference, meant that Saff had to endure the thoughts and feelings of everyone in the village more or less continuously.  Not even in sleep could she evade them for the thoughts of others became twisted into her dreams and chased her through the black of the night.

  Being forced to experience every notion to come into a hundred odd minds simultaneously was driving her slowly insane.

  The thoughts and notions were bad enough.  By far the worse were the thoughts that centred on herself, on Saffri the outcast.

  _~I didn't realise how much they hated me.  I don't conform, I'm not what a villager or a girl child should be, therefore I should be…dealt with- made to conform.  That's just the adults…Lorshi's Court are worse, they already hated me, and now it's becoming apparent that the rest of the village shares their sentiments, they can be more- obvious- in their persecution.~_

  Saff felt the tears rising, the unhappiness lodging in her throat as a cold hard lump, and blinked frantically, staring at the flames, trying to lose herself in the insubstantial beauty of the fire.  It didn't work.  Saff felt the tears trickling down her wind chapped and numbed cheeks.

  Saffri felt sure it wasn't just her increased sensitivity and inability to build a wall, the villagers had become overtly hostile to her, sudden silences and curling lips meeting her where ever she went.

  To avoid this, and to get _them_ out of her mind Saffri avoided the village except to return at night to sleep and for lessons.

  _~Not that I sleep much any more.  Being chased by someone else's nightmare, or someone else's ideas for how to- improve- me is not my idea of fun.  At least if I'm awake I can guess what is me and what is _them_.~_

  Puzzling enough, Father Jaric had remained the only person who didn't spend the day obliviously tramping through Saffri's head  this might have been due to the fact that even being in the same room as the Priest was enough to spark off a headache, and spending any amount of time in his presence, such as for lessons, was enough to produce a dazzle headache that would have flattened a carthorse, and left the few remaining shreds of Saffri curled in a corner silently wailing.

  Still staring at the fire, Saff wished again that she could vanish, become something like a flame, insubstantial and unfeeling.

  _~Dancing in the light rather than drowning in darkness.~_

  Without even realising it Saff slipped into a state of trance, half awake and uncaring, being drawn into the flickering abstracts formed by the fire.  Her mind began to feel warm and light, and more, her wall was glowing, flickering like the fire.  An incorporeal curtain of flame danced around her mind.

_  ~Wha-?!~_

   With a gasp Saff jerked herself awake and the wall of flames around her mind died.  Simultaneously the small fire by her feet shuddered and collapsed in on itself.  Startled by this Saffri involuntarily reached out towards the ashes.

  They were cold.

  Lurching to her feet Saffri backed away from the pile of ashes, mind whirling in circles.

  _~How?  What?… How did I- where did-?~_

  Mind babbling incoherently, Saffri's feet automatically headed back to the village, with none of her usual stealth or caution.

  This inward focus and lack of awareness meant that Saffri didn't realise Lorshi's Court were on the path in front of her until Lorshi's mocking voice pierced her thoughts, leaving traces of sickly green behind it.

  "Well look what we have _here_, Bolten's answer to a freak show and a court jester all rolled into one."

  As Saffri jerked her head up and focused on Lorshi the rest of the group spread out, forming a circle around Lorshi and Saffri.  Noticing this, all thoughts of fire were banished as the icy wind seemed to gust right through Saffri, leaving a layer of cold dread behind it.

  _~Oh no.~_

  Saffri stood as if frozen as Lorshi laid into her, egged on by the additional insults supplied by Garen and the rest of her cronies.  The words didn't make sense to Saffri.  Just random strings of sound that provided a background for the ice-edged blades that were the thoughts and feelings of every member of the group.

  Ice edged blades and tipped darts pierced Saffri's soul, her mind, leaving trails of invisible blood that etched their way down her psyche.

  Lorshi levelled a venomous glare at Saffri, annoyed that she wasn't getting a reaction.

  _~Stupid bitch!  Say something!  Don't just stand there like a statue…I know, I'll _make_ you say something-~_

  Lorshi's mind gave Saffri just that scant warning and she scrambled back, narrowly avoiding Lorshi's descending hand.

  "You _bitch_!  How did you do that?"  Lorshi snarled.

  "Just leave me alone Lorshi."  Even to her own ears Saff's voice sounded strained, unsteady.

  In reply Lorshi swung her hand again, and again, the split second of red tinged mental warning allowed Saffri to duck back.

  This happened four or five times until Lorshi finally launched herself at Saffri, shrieking in rage.

  "Bitch!  Tree-girl!"

  They collided and Lorshi scratched at Saff's face, pushing her backwards, into the clutching arms of the others.

  Saff couldn't see, couldn't hear.  The blades of ice had reduced her to tatters, those few remains now writhing as the blades continued to attack, the constant roar of angry thoughts making her head pound.

  _~Not a…please not a dazzle headache…please…stop-~_

  Silent pleas ignored Saff Felt herself scatter on an intangible wind.  Desperately trying to cling to herself, Saffri searched frantically for something,  _anything _to help her.

  Unbidden, the image of the fire seeped into her head.  Maybe the wall of fire could help her, block them out long enough for her to think of how to escape.

  Abandoning the futile attempts to gather herself together Saff _Reached_ for the fire crying to it without words.

  The frost in her mind evaporated, the icy blades turning to steam.

  The heat spread, Saff suddenly felt heat around her, revelling in the warmth, ignorant to the scream, she expanded the heat all around her.

  Suddenly she realised that she was standing upright, no hands were grasping at her.  Opening her eyes she was startled to find that Lorshi's Court were standing away from her, and there seemed to be more of them than she remembered.

  _~No, wait…it's the rest of the village…why are they-?~_

  The thought wasn't completed as Saff suddenly noticed that, although the villagers were still standing in the deep snow, she herself was standing on blackened earth.  Moreover, for six paces around her, in a perfect circle the ground was all snow free, blackened and steaming slightly.

  The villagers were standing on the edge of the circle and it was then that Saffri noticed the strangest thing of all.

  It was silent.

  There was no sound at all except for her gasping breaths.  No sound and nothing, _nothing_ at _all_ in her head.  The villager's expressions were all the same, frozen, blank and their minds were silent.

  Barely able to comprehend this total _lack_ of noise Saffri opened her mouth, just to break this unnatural silence.

  She never made that sound, there was a sudden whistle in the air behind her and pain exploded in the back of her head, multi-coloured sparks carrying her mind up and away, even as her body collapsed onto the warm, damp soil.


	4. Burns the Sapphire

~cat stumbles in and flops on a cushion on the floor~ Aiieee! I hate not having proper net access!! ~cat sighs~ well….it's taken a while but, ta da! Chapter four had arrived…what with university, sketi-ed up net access and the like ~evil-cat helpfully points out the writer's blocks~ thanks for that evil, it's taken me a while...but…hey, here 'tis! Have fun! ~evil-cat wonders when exactly this chapter became fun since last time she looked her valium stall was about to double it's profits~ Evil! What am I going to do with you?! ~cat stalks off, totally forgetting the disclaimer~

**Chapter Four- Burns the Sapphire.**

Black. Deep and velvety. Endless and infinite and all-encompassing. Or was it? As Saff hung suspended there in the darkness she became aware of a sensation. Warmth.

How long Saffri had floated in the bottomless pool of night she didn't know. She did know that the unseen blow to her head had catapulted her there, whenever that had occurred. 

_~The clearing. The silence.~_ The small part of Saff that was still awake and aware drifted back over the crystal sharp memories, viewing again the fight.

_~I don't understand…What happened?~_ Saffri thought as again she Felt the strange heat. As if the viewing of the memory called it, the warmth around her intensified and the darkness rippled and shifted, taking on the appearance of flames.

Black on night, the flames danced around Saff's mind, leaping and sparkling.

_~Eesh… How odd…~_

Before Saff could complete the thought the flames spasmed and colour suffused them. Burnt oranges, searing yellows and glowing red-purples sparked and leapt, distillations of light that chased away the blackness.

_~Fire. Why fire? What happened? What did I do?~_

Bemusedly, Saffri stared at the fire that was cavorting around her mind. _~I…now I want to wake up…this is scary… People shouldn't have fire in their head…it…it-~_ With this Saffri tried to back-pedal away from the flames, but for once her mind seemed to be obstinately complete and absolutely refused to split, to scatter.

The heat from the fire grew, becoming almost unbearable. With a mental whimper Saff flinched away from it. As she tried to huddle down small and avoid the flames they belched and spasmed again. Instead of yellow, red and orange, the flames now burned purple, rust and green. With each passing moment the jarring colours faded and were consumed. A new colour swallowed them up and burned brightly.

Saff gaped, craning her 'head' back to gaze at the sapphire flames that now surrounded her. Warming, and at the same time, protecting, the sapphire fire enveloped her mind and drew it upwards and outwards.

Cold black replaced warm blue and the dull ache in her head announced that Saff was back in her own body, in a state approaching consciousness.

With an inaudible moan Saff cracked open her eyes. To immediately close them as twin beams of golden light lanced into her brain. The brief glimpse had shown a stone floor, many candles and ranks of wooden pews.

_~So I'm in the church. On the floor, which explains the cold. Now how in Havens did I get here?~ _Saffri thought muzzily as she sat upright. Attempted to sit upright. All that happened was a rather clumsy flailing of her limbs. 

_~What the-?~ _She thought confusedly. _~Why do I feel like someone poured lead into my arms and legs? And what is that _taste_ in my mouth?!~_

Saff gave up on co-ordinated movement and swallowed experimentally.

_~Ugh!~ _Her mouth seemed to be coated in some bitter tasting syrup that also seemed to be down the back of her throat.

A whisper of sound off to one side.

"Ah, I see that we have woken up." The voice was smooth and even. Familiar and different at the same time. "I see that you're having some difficulty recognising my voice." The unseen person continued, footsteps indicating that they were moving towards Saff's line of sight.

Saffri squinted at the blurred grey shape in front of her. Her eyes refused to focus and her stomach appeared to have joined her head in sending pain messages to her brain.

_~Father Jaric?~_

"Fffrr?" Was all that Saff managed to produce.

_~What on…did the blow to my head give me a brainstorm or something?~_

The indistinct shape chuckled sinisterly.

"How astute of you my dear. I am glad to see that I haven't addled your brains." A brief pause, during which furious blinking on Saff's part cleared her eyes somewhat, allowing her to focus on the Priest. "Not that that will be a concern for much longer."

_~I hope this is a dream…It's making as much sense as a dream. That must be it- I'm still unconscious and imagining all of this.~_ Her confusion must have shown clearly on Saffri's face, eliciting another stone cold chuckle from the Father as he crouched down in front of her, grey robes flaring round him like giant wings.

"I suppose I really should explain, we do have a while yet after all."

"W-what?" By whispering, Saffri could get the words out.

"All of this, of course. None of this," Jaric gestured round at the Chapel, "would have been necessary if you had just gone mad like the others."

As the Father continued talking Saff became aware that there was something different, wrong, about the Chapel. Strange symbols adorned the walls and floor around the altar, and the altar itself looked different. The simple wooden structure seemed to have gained symbols itself. Her attention was dragged back to the Father by those last words. "Gone mad? What do you mean?" Even to her own ears, Saff's weak whisper sounded frail and scared.

"Gone mad. Insane. You were supposed to go insane. Nine Hells only know that I tried enough. Even turning the whole village against you and tearing down your shields didn't work. You stayed sane, just about and I really can't be having with that."

"That was _you_?" Saffri's voice broke and she coughed. "But you- you're a _priest_!"

"Not quite," Swish of fabric as Jaric straightened up, brushing himself off, "I have been posing as priest to this village of idiots, true, but only to get close to you, to get into your head. To make you mine." The inflection and almost hissing tone of that sent a trickle of ice cold fear down Saffri's back.

"Wh-?"

"Why? Well. Though not a priest I am a mage, and you, my dear, are Gifted. I want those Gifts and I _will_ have them." Jaric paced up and down as he said this, before stopping and looking at Saffri, still collapsed on the floor, taking in her frightened and confused face. "I am a Bloodmage you young fool, I increase my power by stealing it from others. In your case I want your Gifts." Seeing she was still blank faced, Jaric growled. "Thoughtsensing you blind child. How else do you think you can hear what people are thinking?"

_~Thoughtsensing? I have Gifts? I'm not mad!~ _ The thoughts fleeted through Saff's mind.

"Of course, I prefer my usual methods. Insane people are so easy to break into, and if I destroy their pathetic minds, who will notice or care? They were mad anyway…" His voice faded away for a moment as he fixed Saff with a piercing glare. "Since you decided not to co-operate with my plan I shall have to be somewhat more direct. The poison should be well on it's way to working. Soon you will be dead, and just before you die your mind will be open to me and I shall have your Gifts." The last came out in a grating voice and Saff choked back a sob, tasting again the sour syrup in her mouth. Frantically she tried to spit, much to Jaric's amusement. "I really don't think that will do much good. I got most of it down you while you were still unconscious. It shouldn't be long now."

_~Oh, Gods! What do I do? I don't want to die. Help, someone _help_ me!~_

While these thought scrambled round her head Saffri put everything she had into convincing her arms and legs that they _would_ work, they _had_ to work. Much to her surprise they did work, after a fashion and she managed to lurch to her hands and knees, then, Lord and Lady only know how, she found herself on her feet, clutching at the altar for balance, vision blurring and lungs burning as if she had just outrun a racehorse.

This seemed to amuse Jaric. "Well well you certainly do possess spirit… I think that is why I couldn't take you like the ones before." He regarded the trembling, pale figure in front of him. "I imagine that I could have broken you eventually, however that was not meant to be."

"Why not?" A harsh whisper. "You've taken your time up 'til now, why rush things if you're _enjoying_ yourself?"

"_Because_ you, child, started to actively _use_ your Gifts. As that little display with the village brats showed before."

"Use…?" Saffri faltered, not sure what the mage meant.

"The fire, idiot. You are a _Firestarter_. It was latent up until now, and I wanted it kept that way. I can shield my magics and your demented mental ravings from prying eyes, but if your other Gift manifests fully I will not be able to hide the aura and magical auras like that have the unfortunate habit of attracting those damned Heralds. The last thing I want is a white clad moron and his familiar nosing around."

_~Fire…I am a _Firestarter_?! Oh my…Heralds? A Herald could help! I wish there was one here…~_

Jaric glared at her as these thoughts and more ran through her mind. "Don't even think of crying for help, my shields will block you." He paused and looked at her closely. "I think that it is time for us to proceed. I would say that this won't hurt, but I'd be lying." With this the mage advanced on Saffri, who cowered back against the altar and raised a hand to ward him off. Instead of slapping it away, as she had expected Jaric caught her arm in a vice like grip, the pain of which was lost in the sudden storm of lightning and pain that assaulted her senses. 

With a snap Saff found herself in her mind, surrounded by her pitiful wall. It looked worse than before, if that was possible, parts seemed thin and insubstantial, as if the parts of her that maintained them were not working. _~Or if they are dead. Oh, Gods. I'm dying.~_ Shadows flickered around her and Saff was aware that somewhere far away her heart was racing and her vision was fading as she lost her grip on life. Outside of the wall prowled a dark shape.

_~Is that him?~_

The shape leapt at the wall, breaching it easily. Saffri suddenly found herself in the grip of hands, tentacles belonging to the shadow shape. Hard-soft, gluey and razor sharp the thing gripped at her, trying to smother her. A terrible pressure built up around Saffri as the shadow-that-was-Jaric concentrated all his strength on squashing her out of her own mind. The thing suddenly changed tactics, reaching into Saffri and laying hold of _something_ it tried to pull her apart.

Saff screamed in pain, at least, she thought she screamed, whether the message reached her body was another matter, and battered at the thing to try and drive it back. 

_~I need something to help me…what?~ _ Saff sought around desperately for aid. _~The fire!~_

With a last, frantic 'kick' Saff broke free of the thing and struggled outwards, straining to see the chapel again through her real eyes. Sensation returned to her, shadowed, as if a smoky veil was over everything. It was enough to let her see the candles grouped about the stiffened, sweat soaked bodies of herself and Jaric in front of the altar, looking for all the world like a bizarre sculpture. Panting, Saff Reached for the flames, calling to them as hard as she could. At first, nothing. Then, just as she was losing hope the little fires bobbed and flickered then _grew_, spreading upwards, reaching greedily for the nearby wood of the altar and walls. And for the edge of Jaric's robe. The flames that had reached the wood needed no encouragement so Saff ignored them, and the intense pressure in her head as the Jaric-thing tried to rip her mind apart, concentrating instead on the smouldering flickers on the robe.

_~PAIN!~_ Saff Felt something tear in her and cried out desperately. The fire answered and the whole bottom edge of Jaric's robe flared up.

"Aaiiieeeeee!!!" The voiced scream threw Saff away from the fire and she collapsed backwards as Jaric stumbled away from her, flailing furiously at his robe. It was only them that she realised that the whole chapel was in flames, the bright light and desert dry heat pressing in on both of them.

_~I have to get out!~_

Evidently, the mage had had the same thought and was already stumbling as fast as his burned legs and still smouldering clothes would allow towards the main door. Saff followed as best as she could, battling off the waves of nausea and darkness that threatened to engulf her. Nearing the door, she became aware of the sounds of a crowd. A large crowd. _~Of course…the whole village. Probably waiting for the 'Holy Priest' to cleanse me of my demons or something.~_

Saffri's guess proved nearly correct, it was pretty much the whole village, illuminated in sharp relief by the wash of colour from the merrily burning church, watching the fire with fear, except for a small group who were tending the burned and collapsed form of Father Jaric.

"No-." A bout of coughing from the smoke prevented Saffri from voicing more than that. It was enough to attract attention from a few villagers, who nudged their neighbours in a steadily spreading ring outwards until the entire crowd were staring at her.

Just as Saff was about to try to speak again one of the women tending Jaric let out a shriek. "Tis the demon! First it burns down our church and tries to murder our Holy Father and now it was come to kill us!!"

Saffri stopped dead with shock as an angry rumble ran through the crowd and a rustling sound resulted in an alarming number of weapons being produced.

"_Wait!_" Saffri's voice spiralled upwards in fear as four grim faced men advanced on her, boar spears and pitchforks held in front of them. Saff tried to scramble backwards, but she seemed frozen in place.

_~I can't… they're going to-!~_ Without thinking Saffri linked with the flames behind her and a lick of flame leapt over her head towards the men. A concert of yells and the now red hot and smouldering spears and forks clattered to the ground.

_~If I can just keep them back-~_ The thought was interrupted by a thudding impact in her right thigh, followed immediately by a jolt of pain so intense Saffri couldn't even scream, only moan and grasp at the gash in her leg, caused by a throwing knife that skittered along the ground and came to rest behind her.

_~I'm going to die. They're going to rip me apart.~_ Saffri thought with sick fear as she focused on the hate filled faces of the villagers through tears of pain. With a sob, Saffri closed her eyes. _~Please let it be quick.~_ The thudding pain she was expecting didn't happen however, instead the air was rent by a battle scream and a thundering sound. Hard on these sounds came the screams and shouts of the villagers and another scream, this one much closer. Opening her eyes, Saffri was confronted with the sight of the villagers nearest her cowering away, weapons dropped forgotten on the floor. Not form her, but from the white horse that was in front of her.

_~That's no horse…it's a Companion! That means that there must be a Herald! I'm safe!~_

The Companion reared up to its, _her,_ full height and crow-hopped forwards, lashing out with wicked looking silver fore-hooves at the group of men in front of her, as she voiced a third scream of defiance.

Saffri had never seen a Companion this close before and the sheer breath-taking beauty of the creature awed her. The pure white coat and silver hooves were complemented perfectly by the odd looking blue tack that the Companion was wearing. Without realising it Saffri had taken a few steps towards the Companion as it lashed out warningly at eh people surrounding the both of them. The Herald was nowhere to be seen, most probably in the crowd somewhere, calming people down. As the ashes from the fire drifted down across the village square, the Companion returned to all four feet with a clatter, continuing to bear her teeth at the villagers.

The impact sent vibrations through the ground and up Saff's leg, reawakening the pain that had been forgotten in the glory of the Companion, and Saff moaned with pain. The creature backed up towards Saffri, and, for some reason she couldn't explain she found herself using the last shreds of her strength to clamber approximately into the blue dyed saddle. Saff was barely in the saddle when the Companion wheeled and headed straight for the crowd, who scrambled out of her way. Once clear, the Companion aimed herself at the road leading away from the village and took off at incredible speed, kicking up clumps of snow, as Saffri tried desperately to hold onto the saddle and consciousness.

~***~

How long they had been running, Saffri couldn't tell. The pain in her leg and the insidious darkening veil that was the poison coursing through her veins made it feel like candlemarks as the countryside flashed past in a blur and flecks of sweat and blood flew off the Companion and Saff.

Saff raised her head and tried to focus as the Companion slowed beneath her and turned off the main road, heading down a smaller track, that non-the-less, had a clear path of beaten down snow on it.

The rhythmic bunching of muscles beneath Saffri slowed again and the Companion slowed and came to a halt in what appeared, from what little Saff could see through her blurred and shadowed vision, to be a small clearing. Saffri slid from the saddle, leaving a bloody smear down the side of the Companion and stumbled away from it, trying desperately to keep her balance as ever darker waves of blackness assaulted her. Fighting the urge to retch, Saffri wobbled, and collapsed to her knees as she tried to turn to look at the creature that had brought her here.

As if from a long, long way off Saffri heard a voice echoing towards her. It sounded female.

_:Are you-?:_

Darkness.


	5. Not Another Chapter

**Not Another Chapter!**

Greetings to thee from the Realm of the SugarCube Castle! (i.e:  my sad and sick little mind).  Thank you all sooo very much for the reviews!  I am so sorry to leave you all hanging over the edge of the cliff like that… ~cat looks at the readers~ …and I'm sure that the guano'll wash right out…ahem ~cat moves swiftly onwards~

Basically I have managed to yet again knacker my laptop ~flicks one ear back as enraged beeping and dit dit dit noises emerge from her distant room~ and guess which utter moose started writing Chapter 5 on the lappy, but forgot to save it to floppy disk as well. ~evil-cat points and laughs hysterically~

~cat flattens both ears and glares at evil-cat~  Just for that madam, you can go sort out that damn laptop!  It thinks I don't know what 'beeeep bip dit vrrm beep' means, but I do!!

~evil-cat sulks and wanders of in the direction cat is pointing at repeatedly while hopping up and down~

Anyways…as soon as the infernal machine is fixed (I'm dragging it to the IT techs at my uni tomorrow muahahaha) I can continue with Chapter 5 and post it!

~cat mutters about the evilness of computers, then looks up blankly~

Oh dear gods…evil! No valium!  My laptop will not be fixed if you poke crushed up valium into the :/A drive! ~cat listens for a moment~ No, nor will poking it in the :/D drive…honestly…it's like looking after a hyperactive child sometimes!

~evil-cat skips back in trailing wires and resistors and points out that she is, in fact, the incarnation-of-cat that is a hyperactive child~

~cat considers weeping~

~evil-cat bounces around yelling whyyyyy?~

~cat brains her with a box of anti-banana leaflets and attempts to return to the topic~

Likes I said, ty ty ty for all the reviews ^-^ ~cat-who-purrs~ much appreciated. 

And, Kattiko!  You have to write more! Pleeeease!  I'll give you imaginary sweeties!

~waves a bag of imaginary chocolate around enticingly~


	6. Of Heralds and Healers

Oh yes!  ~cat dances around in circles~ Look at what I've just written from start to finish this evening!  ~cat struts her funky stuff~  ~evil-cat raises an eyebrow and attacks cat with a big red Censored stamp~ Ow!! Owww! Alright, already!  ~cat stops~  So anyway….my laptop's still knackered and I can't afford to fix it.  I have umm…. £30 pounds of overdraft left 'til January and my meals at the moment are variations on the theme of pasta or noodles……I'm going to look like a Durham wheat product soon…. ~noodle-cat wanders past and waves~ …but I've managed to purloin typing time on my mate's computers eheh heh heh ~flicks an ear back at the sound of muffled banging and shouting~ What do you mean 'did I lock them in a wardrobe?' What do you think I am?!  ~flutters her eyelashes and looks innocent in that uniquely feline way~

~evil-cat skips past and shouts~ Disclaimer!  The world of Valdemar and the concepts therein, such as Companions, Heralds, psychotic Bloodpath mages and the like **are not in any way the property of the etcetera-cat.**  So don't sue us, please!  ~evil-cat pokes cat and they both grin winsomely~  (I am just me, one person, but I like writing as multiples-of-cat…I should probably stop as I'm now automatically using 'we' and 'us' instead of 'I' and 'me' ~cat shakes her head~

A big fat fuzzy feline (alliteration! Yay!) thank you to all my reviewers, please continue to review!  ~throws cyber-chocolate and sugar at everyone~ and without further ado….. read on, read on….. 

**Chapter 5- Of Heralds and Healers.**

  Herald-Mage Lexa shifted her weight ever so slightly from foot to foot and listened intently to her internee, Derran, as he presided over the final judgement in the village of Asten that required Heraldic intervention.

  Lexa was about thirty summers old and her ash blonde hair was faintly streaked in places with grey, due to both her age and to the effects of wielding mage energy.

  _~Not that I'm exactly the modern day equivalent of Vanyel Ashkevron, or, for that matter, any match for Elspeth.~  she thought with a silent chuckle, her grey eyes sparkling slightly as her Companion, Jass, picked up her amusement and sent a curious thread of consciousness in her direction._

_  :What's so funny about sheep rustling?:  Jass asked._

  _:Nothing much dearheart.:  Lexa assured him with amusement.  __:You'll be pleased to know that Derran is nearly finished.:_

  Sent impression of a snort.  _:Good.  All very well for you humans in the nice warm hall.  What about us poor Companions left standing about in the snow?  Zirri tells me to inform you that her tail is about to freeze off, and I am inclined to agree with her.: _

  Despite the lecturing tone, Lexa knew Jass was teasing her by the yellow hint of humour that coloured the Sending.

  _:Well,: she pointed out mildly,__ :I wasn't the one who insisted on a lie-in this morning.  If we had left when I suggested we would already be on the road, rather than about to leave when the farmer arrived about the sheep.:_

  Jass sighed into Lexa's mind and silently agreed.

  The mayor trying to attract her attention called her mind back to the present.  The man smiled broadly at her and spoke.

  "Thankye indeed Herald.  Methinks that next time we see Derran he'll be in Whites, hey?"

  "Ah, now, that could well be true."  Lexa smiled as she said this as Derran blushed slightly.  "Anyway good sir, it really is time we made tracks to our next stop, Bolten, I believe."

  The mayor nodded as he fussed over the front of his (somewhat moth-eaten) robes.  

  "Of course, of course." He said.  "Far be it from us to detain you any further, and many thanks for sorting out the mess with Rolf's sheep."

  The man continued to chatter inconsequentials at her as Lexa made appropriate noises and headed towards the main door to the hall.  Extricating himself from a knot of chattering villagers, Derran caught up with Lexa as she reached the door.

  "Herald Lexa, was that alright?"  He asked eagarly as they left the building and the bitter winter wind clawed it's way across their faces.

  Lexa hissed slightly at the cold washed across her before replying to the trainee.

  "That was fine Derran.  All of the people were involved were satisfied, weren't they?  And I certainly thought that you handled all the judgements here well."

  Derran flushed slightly at the praise as they crunched their way across the glittering snow, towards the house that served as the home and hospital of the village Healer.

  Lexa knocked on the door and called through to the inside.  "Yarrin, it's time to go."

  The Healer emerged, bundled up in so many layers of clothing that it was impossible to tell that he was in fact a stick thin, heron like man, his six feet easily dwarfing Lexa's five and a half.  Rearranging his outermost coat, he chuckled at Lexa's raised eyebrow.  "My dear Lex, surely you remember my aversion to the cold from out days together at the Collegia."

  "Aversion?  More like absolute hatred!"  Lexa snorted with amusement.

  Yarrin had arrived at the Healer's Collegia as a wide-eyed child with potential for Healing at the same time that an equally wide-eyed Lexa had been deposited at Heraldic Collegia by a sarcastic talking white horse.  The pair had gravitated towards each other within a few days of their arrival and had been firm friends ever since.  They'd always kept in contact, mainly by letter, since they had both finished training, until recently, when Yarrin had moved to a new Healer's outpost and Lexa had failed to get the name of the village.  It was hard to say who had been more surprised when Lexa and Derran had arrived at Asten five days ago as part of Derran's Internship circuit.  

  The tall, green-eyed, dark complected Healer and the short brown eyed and blonde Herald had renewed their friendship and had been catching up on gossip with each other when ever they could, to the extent that Jass had taken to jokingly complaining to Lexa that he couldn't sleep of a night for the incessant chatter from the pair of them. 

  Together the trio moved across the frozen ridges of snow on the village square towards the waiting pair of Companions.

  As Derran mounted his Zirri, Jass lipped at Lexa's hair and she scratched his nose in greeting.  Yarrin handed her his healing bag and she attached it to the back of Jass's saddle, next to her travel packs.

  "I must thank you for offering to take me to Bolten with you." Yarrin said to Lexa as she swung up into the saddle.  "They have no proper Healer there and I have been meaning to do my rounds there for a while, and the prospect of walking for near enough a mark in this weather is not appealing."  Yarrin said this with a chuckle as Jass turned his head round and looked reproachfully at Yarrin with one sapphire eye.

  "Oh, I know!  You still have to walk, and I'm glad that you are taking me Jass."  Yarrin bowed extravagantly to the Companion who snorted with amusement at his antics, a cloud of warm vapour swirling from his nose up into the blindingly blue winter sky.

  _:Tell the stork-man to get on now or he has to carry me.:_

  Lexa choked down a laugh and Yarrin raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, then looked at Jass who blinked innocently back at him.  

  "I don't think I want to know what Jass is saying about me." He commented with some amusement, as he scrambled up onto the pillion pad behind Lexa.

  "I think you're wise in that respect dearling." Lexa replied to Yarrin.  "Jass is now insulting your riding abilities."  She dissolved into weak laughter as Jass bobbed his head and whickered with amusement.

  "Some things don't change then."  Yarrin observed with a sigh.  "Shall we be off Lex, dear?"

  In reply, Lexa signaled to Jass who moved off at an easy trot, closely followed by Zirri.

  Derran sat easily on her back, still elated at having successfully dealt with all the judgements in Asten.  The trainee was of medium height, nowhere near as tall as the stork like Yarrin at any rate, and had short, dark brown hair and brown eyes.  In physical appearance he was nothing more than average, except for the fact that his good nature and life-loving spirit shone through his face and coloured everything that he did.

  _:See.:  Zirri sounded as satisfied and happy as Derran felt.  __:I told you that everything would be fine.:_

_  :Indeed you did, remind me to worship you later sweetie.:  Derran grinned as Zirri snorted slightly at him.  __:Really, I mean it.  I was so nervous last night when Lexa told me that I'd be doing all of today's judging.:_

_  :Yes, well, like I said Chosen.  You were fine.  Better than, in fact!:  Zirri looked back at Derran, her eyes sparkling with amusement and he grinned back at her._

  Looking up at the chattering Herald and Healer riding in front of them Derran smiled.  _:They really are good friends, aren't they?:  He asked his Companion._

  _:Yes,: she replied, __:Jass says that they've known each other practically since they both arrived at Haven.:  She stretched her head forward slightly and tested the breeze for a moment.  __:We'll be at the final village soon.:_

_  Derran 'mmm'ed in agreement and pulled off one glove to rub at his forehead.  Sparkles of light were beginning to dance in front of his eyes._

  Zirri swivelled both her ears back, towards her Chosen.  _:Derran?  Are you ok?:_ she asked, a faint tinge of worry overlaying her voice.

  _:I—I'm fine Zirri.:_  Derran's Mindvoice faltered as the shimmers of light intensified, culminating in a sharp flash.

  _Darkness, quickly followed by light, burning light.  _

_Flash._

_Fear! Fearfearfear! Panic!  Sour taste of terror, overlaid with the insidious canker of evil.  _

_Flash. _

_Soft thumping sound and a wash of heat.  Fire, all around him burned the fire, clawing it's way skywards like a demonic creature._

_Flash.  _

_Strange faces, twisted with hate, mouths moving, but no sound._

_Flash._

_Thudding sensation, followed fast by white heat of pain, throbbing in time with the hellfire that convulsed behind him._

_Flash._

_A scream, the only sound, glaring white and blue.  Anger, terrible anger._

_Flash.  _

  Derran let out a groan as he found himself suddenly back in his own body, hands convulsed into fists on the pommel of the saddle, Zirri repeatedly calling his name in Mindspeech, Lexa and Yarrin, still on Jass, who had stopped next to Zirri,  doing the same vocally.

  "I'm fine, really—" Derran croaked and then coughed harshly.  

  "What is it?"  Lexa demanded, her face taunt with worry.  "Was it your Foresight?"

  Derran straightened himself in the saddle.  "Yes, something—someone, I was seeing through someone else's eyes.  They were in danger, terrible danger.  There was fire—it looked like one of the hells…"  Derran shivered as he remembered the threads of evil that he had sensed along with the vision.

  "'Ran," Lexa called his attention back to her, "think, where was it?  Could you see where it was?"

  "It was close, very close.  I think, I don't think there's much time."  Derran lapsed into silence as the Healer looked at him with concern.

  Lexa opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, her eyes widened and she whipped her head around to stare blankly up the road, towards the village of Bolten, an action mirrored by both Companions.

  A deep roar echoed around the slumbering forest and a belching cloud of smoke writhed it's way into the azure sky.  Sooty sparks swirled out from the rapidly expanding miasma, showering down on the trees in the distance.

  "Hydatha's tits!"  Lexa swore.  _:Jass!:_

  Both Companions launched themselves into a full gallop and pounded down the snow covered road, and icy cloud of crystals dancing in their wake.

  _:Derran!:_  Lexa's Mindvoice made Derran start, it wasn't often that his mentor Mindspoke him.

  _:Y—yes?:_

_  :Is this what you Saw?:_

_  :I think so.:_

_  :Hells.:_

  Jass and Zirri were now in their full stride, near enough flying over the snow, almost as if they were reincarnations of the Windrider himself.  Lexa clung grimly to the pommel of the saddle, normally she would have been fine, but poor, unbalanced Yarrin clinging onto her combined with the fact that her Mage senses were now screaming warning at her was keeping her off balance.

  Jass's head was down and his ears were pricked forwards as he thundered along, the thudding of his and Zirri's hooves causing the local birdlife to clatter into the air, shrilling in alarm.

_  :Help me—us!:_  The unknown Mindvoice, almost unintelligible with fear screamed across Lexa's mind.  Judging by Yarrin's yelp of pain, he had also heard it.

  _:HELP!:_  The voice spiralled upwards in volume, and a surge of raw fear accompanied it.

  Jass stumbled slightly and jerked his head up.  _:Kara?!:_  His Broadsend was loud, and incredulous.

  The unknown mind locked onto them, Lexa could feel it focusing on them, trying to identify them.  _:Jass?  Jass!  Help me!  Help her!  She's dying I—:_

  The Sending faded into a garbled wash of fear and panic.  Jass squealed and dug his hooves into the ground, turning so fast that he almost unseated Lexa and Yarrin, he darted down a half hidden side track.  Lexa was half aware of Zirri performing a similar manoeuvre and Derran clinging desperately at the pommel of his saddle to stay with her.  Lexa shook her head and tried to right herself as Jass flashed along the track.

  _:Jass!:_  Lexa almost had to shout to get her Companion's attention, his concentration was on getting them –where-ever—as soon as possible.

  _:What?:_

_  :Who—what was that.:_

_  :Kara.:  _Jass said grimly.  _:My sister.:_

  Lexa cursed silently as Jass turned his attention back to the headlong gallop.  This time he gave her slight warning before he threw himself into another twisting turn, without losing a beat.  Now they were running down a narrow track.  Lexa noted with foreboding that the snow ahead of them was already churned up by hooves and was in places speckled with a bright red, fading to pink.

  _~Oh, Gods.~_

  Before anything more could form in Lexa's mind Jass locked his legs and stopped, hips slewing sideways, kicking up clouds of snow, dumping his momentum as he entered the clearing before the Herald's Waystation.

  Zirri followed hard on his heels.  _:Hang on.:_  she warned Derran as she also slewed to a halt.  

  Derran prised hands that felt like they were welded to the leather off of the pommel of the saddle, simultaneously looking around for his mentor.  Lexa was ahead of him, scrambling off Jass's back and stumbling over the snow, closely followed by the green clad Healer.  They were running towards a third Companion, who stood shivering in the clearing before the Waystation, head down, eyes glassy and almost black, sides streaked liberally with_—no—_sides liberally streaked with blood.

  Derran almost fell out of the saddle in his haste to reach the apparently injured Companion.  The Healer reached the mare, but instead of helping her, or even looking at her, hesagged to the ground and reached for something on the ground.

  As Derran scrambled closer, closely followed by his worried Companion, he could make out what the Healer was bent over, it was a person, sprawled across the snow, which was dyed a bright red.

  "We need to get her inside."  Yarrin's voice was shaking, and sounded abstracted as he reached over the prone form, which Derran belatedly noticed was a girl, and picked her up.  Red snow showered off her sodden clothes and the blood streaked Companion moaned slightly.

  The Healer lurched over the snow and thudded against the door of the Waystation, forcing it open.  Once inside, he laid the injured girl on the bed and began stripping off her blood and ice soaked clothes as the two Heralds and three Companions crowded in behind him.  Lexa glanced around and ingnited the already laid fire with a touch of her mage gift.

  The mare bulled her way to the head of the bed and looked at the Healer with terror filled sapphire eyes.

  _:Please.  You have to save her—:_  The Mindvoice faltered as everyone stared at her in shock.  The mare was Broadsending to the entire room.

  _:I can't hold her here much longer, she's dying.  Heal her.  _Please_.:_

Yarrin nodded at her.  "I'll do all I can, lady, just hold her for a bit longer, Lexa—"

  The female Herald moved forward at Yarrin's call.  "Derran can feed you as well."  She stated.  "Derran, come here please."

  The trainee moved towards her and looked at her with worry and puzzlement.  "What can I do?"  He asked uncertainly.

  Lexa took hold of his hands.  "Drop your shields and link with me." She ordered.  "And just feed me power, I'm going to feed to Yarrin so he can Heal her."  

  Jass moved up beside the mare.  _:I can help Kara hold her Chosen.:_ He stated.

  Yarrin nodded once.  "Good."  He said shortly, then fell into a trance. 

  Derran followed Lexa's instructions and lowered all but his most personal shields, she Reached out for him and joined them together.  _:Start feeding me now.:_  She ordered.  

  Derran began to push a steady stream of energy towards his mentor, and felt Zirri add her strength to his, turning their combined energy to a pure blue-white.  Through his meld with Lexa, he was aware that she was taking the energy that they were giving her and was adding her own golden-yellow energy to it before feeding it to the Healer.  'Ran could dimly sense that Yarrin was doing something to the energy, changing it to a golden green colour and saturating the injured girl's body with it.

  Flesh healed and knitted together under the coaxing of the Healer until only a silver scar remained on the girl's leg.  Instead of stopping at that, as Derran, and Lexa too, expected, Yarrin continued pouring Healing energies into the girl's body, he seemed to be chasing after something.

  Lexa brushed lightly against his mind.  Knowing that he had a slight Mindspeech Gift.  _:Yarrin, what is it?:_  

_:Poison.  It's what's killing her, not the wound.:_

  Once again, Lexa began reciting curses under her breath.

~***~

  Every bone in Lexa's body was aching, and from the look of it Yarrin and Derran were feeling pretty much the same.  Cleansing the girl's body of the insidious poison had taken candlemarks of exhausting work, but they had eventually been successful, and now the girl was asleep in the bed, bundled up in many blankets to keep her warm, her Companion laying on the floor next to her, nose touching her Chosen.

  Jass and Zirri were standing against the front wall of the Waystation, basking in the heat from the fire that Lexa had magically ignited when they arrived.  Derran finished throwing more kindling on the fire and settled back on his pile of bedding on the floor, giving his Companion an imploring look.  Zirri complied by moving over to him and folding her legs beneath her, settled on the floor behind him, allowing him to lean against her.

  "I just feel the need to be in contact with her." He explained.

  Lexa nodded.  "I know what you mean."

  "Who is she?"  Derran nodded at the girl.

  Jass raised his head and looked at his Chosen.  _:Her name is Saffri and Kara has Chosen her.:_

  "Jass says her name is Saffri.  Kara has Chosen her, Kara is Jass's younger sister."  Lexa repeated out loud for Yarrin and Derran's benefit.

  "Was she the one who I was seeing through in my vision?"  Derran asked with a shiver at the remembered evil.

  Lexa paused for a moment.  "I believe so, yes."

  Yarrin cleared his throat.  "Then she has something to do with—"  Yarrin nodded in the direction of Bolten.

  "Yes."  Lexa stared worriedly at the wall, as if she could will a view at the village to appear on it.

  _:Chosen, whatever has happened, we will get to the bottom of it.  We are all too tired at the moment.  We can go in the morning, whatever evidence or explanation is there tonight will still be there tomorrow.:_

_:I know Jass, that's what I'm almost afraid of.:_  Lexa replied broodingly, switching her gaze to the hearth where the fire snapped and crackled, sending glowing sparks up the chimney. 


	7. Hearth Fires and Heart Fires

Disclaimer!  ~evil-cat hops from paw to paw~  Basically the concepts for Valdemar and the like are aaaalll the property of the wonderful Mercedes Lackey and the only things that are ours are the characters! ~skips off shouting~ Nit! Niiiittt!!!!

~cat raises an eyebrow at the departing satanic kitty~ I do apologise, she's been after me to give her something to do so I let her disclaim now…. She's had lots of practice… The nit thing… hmmm…I won't explain that—just put it down to evil's total lack of anything remotely resembling a brain and/or common sense.  ~cat shakes her head~

And for my reviewers… 

Rosethorn: you just don't know…I could be planning summat lol ~cat scribbles down plot ideas~

Kattiko: why thank you thank you!  Do I really?  And I apologise for writing slowly lol this is coming out of my head straight to disk at the moment so some time is spent staring blankly at the screen.  Ah well… I'm writing quicker now as the choice of activities I can afford at the moment are 1) write more 'Hunt' or 2) write up Animal Production lecture notes.  As fascinating as typing up stuff on pig production systems _is_, 'Hunt' keeps winning…… ~cat stops babbling~

Anyway, onward to Chapter 6!

Chapter 6- Hearth Fires and Heart Fires. 

  The blue-green expanse seemed to go on forever.  It stretched away in every direction, glimmering occasionally in the places that it was shot with silver.  Despite the colours being ones that people usually associated with coolness and feelings of cold, Saffri had never felt so warm in her entire life.  The warmth, and something else, filled up every part of her being and overflowed all around her, cocooning her away from the world.

  Some small part of Saff was aware that this vista of colour and warmth was entirely inside her own head, but the strangest thing was, for the first time that she could remember, it was quiet.  Not silent, there was a constant murmur of—something— that followed her every thought and seemed linked to the warmth that now bathed her soul, but it was quiet.  The only sounds inside her mind were her own thoughts and the murmur, whatever it was.

  The same small part of Saffri's mind was also aware that someone had Healed her.  She no longer felt the darkening weakness that was Jaric's poison seeping through her body.

  As if thinking about the Healing triggered something, Saff could feel herself drifting closer to consciousness, not far enough to wake up, but far enough to be able to hear what was around her.  Like an air bubble under ice Saffri hung near to the surface of her mind.  She could hear voices, ones that she didn't recognise.

  "How's she doing today?"  A strange female voice, dusky and worn sounding, as if it's owner had been abusing her vocal chords recently.

  A male voice replied, this one sounding less worn than the woman's.  "Better.  I got to the poison just in time, her own body is repairing the damage to itself with only minimal help from me now."  A slight sound, as if the man was clearing his throat, then the sound of someone sipping a drink, the cup making a chink as it was replaced on the table.  "It certainly helps that she was Chosen.  Kara has been a great help."

  Saff wondered vaguely who the unknown people were talking about.  For some reason Saff couldn't fathom the warmness inside her took on a feeling of amusement.

  A slight chuckle from the woman.  "Companions can useful like that."  The tone of her voice suddenly sobered.  "It's a mess, Yarrin.  The whole village.  Someone—something's been using Bloodmagic there."  

  A sharp intake of breath from the man—Yarrin.  "A Bloodpath mage?  In Valdemar?"

  "Not as uncommon as you might think."  The woman replied.  "We are also very near to the Border, and this is the Pelagirs."

  Sound of someone pacing across the room, the creaking floorboards a counterpoint to the lazy crackle of the hearth fire.

  "There's broken shields over the village and all of the villagers are tainted with traces of Bloodmagic, most of them heavily.  Whoever the mage was, they had control over the entire village."  The pacing stopped and Saff got the impression that the woman was looking at her.  "Not this one though, at least, not significantly.  I had a chat with her Kara earlier—"

_  ~My Kara?~_  A bemused thought floated across Saff's mind, followed by more of the warm amusement.

  "—and she says that the mage was only successful in getting into Saffri's mind on the day that she Chose her."

  _~They know my name…How?~_

  "Who was the mage?"  Yarrin sounded curious.

  "You're not going to believe this."  The woman sounded angry.  "As far as I can tell he was 'Father' Jaric, the village Priest!"

  A gasp.  "Lexa, you're not serious!  The _Priest?!_"  So the woman was called Lexa.

  The man was speaking again.  "What exactly had the mage done to the villagers?"

  The woman sighed.  "I admit I'm no MindHealer, but it looks like he was tampering with their minds, very subtly.  Manipulating them."

  "To what end?"

  "As far as Jass and I can tell, to turn them against Saffri."

  The man made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and from the sound of Lexa's sigh, she agreed.  "Speaking of MindHealers," she continued, "I'm going to see Jass, he was going to contact Haven for me, Bolten needs MindHealers aplenty.  He deserves a fuss as well."

  Footsteps moving away from Saffri and the sound of a door opening and closing quickly, so that only the slightest breath of cold air could whisper into the room.

  Throughout the conversation Saff had been gaining more and more awareness of her surroundings and the 'ice' keeping the bubble of self down no longer seemed half as thick.  She was now aware that she was lying on her right side, in a bed that was piled with blankets and covers, and there was something else close to her, something large.  She could hear it breathing quietly.

  Saff felt her own breathing quicken slightly as she pushed herself all the way awake.  Her eyelids felt heavy and sticky, but she was determined to open them, and the murmur in her mind was encouraging her.

  Her eyes fluttered open, pupils contracting at the sudden warm light that flooded into them.  Wincing slightly, Saff managed to pull herself up onto one elbow, then into more of a sideways sitting position, still leaning on the pile of pillows.  The details of the room beyond were lost as Saffri suddenly noticed what was in front of her, the source of the breathing she had heard.

  It was a Companion, laying on the mat covered floor by the bed.  The Companion, the one that had saved her.  The Companion was lying so that her head was near Saff, and, as Saffri sat up the mare turned to look at her.

  Saffri found herself drowning as the field of blue-green in her mind turned pure sapphire, matching those bottomless eyes, and the warmth—love— fountained around her and the murmur in her head sharpened into words.

  _:Good morning Chosen.  My name is Kara.:_

  Six simple words, but with them came the unveiling and understanding of what the voice had been telling her all night.  Saff didn't even notice that tears were leaking from her eyes, all that mattered was getting her arms around _her_ Companion's neck, and never ever letting go.

  Saff flung her arms around the mare's smooth white neck and felt her nuzzle her cheek.

  _~I'm not mad.  I'm not evil.  I'm safe.  I've been Chosen.~_

_  :Nor will I ever let go of you Saffri.:_  The Mindvoice was rich and feminine and was laced with a whiteness that spoke of utter truth.  Kara then uttered the words that confirmed what both of them already knew.

  _:I Choose you.:_

  After a while, a slight cough sounded from by the hearth.  Saff unwrapped herself from around Kara's neck and sat up, finally noticing the other occupant of the room.

  A tall, very thin man in Healer's Green was watching them with a smile on his face.

  "I trust that you are feeling a bit better than when we first met?"  He inquired jovially.

  "I suppose I am…" Saff trailed off, unsure what to say.

  The Healer noticed her unease and moved across the room towards the bed.  "Going too quick for you, aren't I?"  His tone of voice was self-depreciating and apologetic.

  "My name is Yarrin, and I'm a Healer."  Yarrin pointed at his robes.  "Which does make picking out clothes easier.  At least this way I don't end up looking like an accident in a paint factory."

  The chuckle that accompanied the ridiculous statement drew a smile from Saffri and an amused whicker from Kara. 

  "Y—you Healed me?"  Saffri asked quietly.

  The man's expression sobered and he nodded.  "That I did, my dear.  I did have rather a lot of help though."  Shaking his head, the Healer smiled again at her.  "So, before we become mired in reality and details, would you like a bath?"

  The utter normalcy of the question stumped Saff for a moment.

  "I, uh—yes!"  She replied.  "But how—?"

  The man laughed and indicated at the wooden frame tub sitting before the fire, steam curling invitingly from the water.  "I had the feeling that you would wake today and I've been keeping the water warm with hot stones."

  Saffri sat up and swung her legs off the side of the bed, as Kara scrambled to her feet and moved back slightly.  Much to her shock and dismay Saff felt as weak as a newborn puppy, and her legs wouldn't stop wobbling.

  "What's wrong with me?"  She asked, slightly desperately as she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

  Both Kara and Yarrin hastened to soothe her, Kara sending a rush of comfort to her mind.

  "It's ok Saffri, some weakness is to be expected.  You have been abed for just over two weeks and before that, things were rather serious."  The Healer trailed off momentarily, then resumed.  "However!  I should let you bathe.  I will be outside with the others, take as long as you want, the sun is quite warm enough for us for a while."

  With that, the Healer made shooing motions in the direction of the tub and walked over to the door, letting in a brief wisp of icy air as he left.

  Slowly, Saffri stood up, holding onto the bedpost slightly for support, and turned to look as Kara.

  "Really two weeks?"

  _:Yes Chosen.:_  the Companion didn't elaborate any more.

  Saffri limped over to the tub, shedding clothes as she went, her legs felt stiff from lack of use.  Looking over her shoulder at Kara she asked, "What others are here?"

  _:Apart from myself and Yarrin, two Heralds and their Companions.  Herald-Mage Lexa and Jass, and Herald-Trainee Derran and Zirri.:_  Kara watched her Chosen with limpid blue eyes as she lowered herself into the hot water.

  "Why are they here?"  Saff asked curiously.

  Kara shook her head slightly and blew out through her nose before replying.  _:They were on Circuit in this area, at Asten, where Yarrin is based, in fact.  They heard my call for help and came.:_  The Companion turned around, so that she was facing the door.  _:I am going to leave you for a bath in peace.:_  She said decidedly.  _:There will be plenty of time for explanations later, after you have washed and feel better.:_

  "I feel fine, really!"  Saff called as the Companion nudged at the door.  "Do you want some help—oh."  The last was said as Kara opened the door.

  _:Companion friendly door handles.:_  she said, turning her head back to share an amused look with her Chosen.  _:Gods bless artificers.:_  She kicked the door lightly shut as she left, leaving Saffri alone in the Waystation.

  Saffri sighed and sank lower in the water, the warmth was comforting, as was the crackle from the fire in the hearth.

  Letting herself drift away into an almost-trance Saffri idly looked over her mind.  Quickly she discovered the reason why it was so quiet in her head, there was a crystalline layering of shields about her mind and they glimmered with the unmistakeable blue-white of Kara's presence.  She examined them curiously, they looked beautiful and fragile, but somehow Saff knew that they were anything but.

_  ~I wish I could do that.~_ She thought to herself.  _~I'd better get out of the bath, no matter what that Healer—Yarrin said.  It's cold out there, I don't want them turning to ice sculptures!~_

_  :Why, thank you for your concern!:_  Kara's Mindvoice was rich with laughter.

  Saffri reached tentatively outwards.  _:Kara?:_

  _:Yes my dear twofeet?:_  the Companion sent.

  _:Just experimenting.:  _Saffri giggled and clambered out of the bath.  Hurriedly she dried herself and dressed in the clean grey clothes that were laid out on a chair near the bed.  Despite the warmth from the fire, the air still felt chilly to her wet skin.

  Standing uncertainly next to the bed Saffri looked around, and then tried to reach for Kara again. 

  _:Kara?:_

_  :Got me again!  What's up?:_  The Companion sounded amused and Saffri had the feeling that Kara was normally something of a joker.

  _:Me? A joker?:_  Impression of a Companion fluttering her eyes and looking innocent.  _:Are you decent?:_

  Saffri sent back a laugh at the image.  _:Yes, I am.:_

_  :I'll send in the two feet then.:_  The Companion faded out of contact and the door to the Waystation creaked open, quickly followed by three rather blue looking people.

  Saffri recognised the first one as the Healer, Yarrin.  The short woman with the greying blonde hair must be the Herald-Mage, and the young, serious looking boy must be her Trainee.

  "It certainly is good to see you up and about young miss."  That was the woman, smiling as she said it.  Saff turned to look at her as she continued.  "My name is Lexa, and this is Derran."  As she said this she clapped the boy on the shoulder.  "I think you'll already know Yarrin."

  "Y—yes."  Saff's voice sounded croaky, even to her own ears and she winced internally.  _~I sound like a child.~_  "Thank you for, um… helping me."

  Lexa waved a hand.  "Of course we helped you, you're one of us now."  The Herald eyed Saffri speculatively.  "Speaking of which, d'you feel up to telling us what happened in that village of yours?  We know some of it from what your Kara's said and from what the villagers themselves told me.  I get the feeling, however, that your version is likely to be the most accurate and complete."

_  ~I—I can't talk about it!  But…why not?  I'm safe now, he can't get me.~_  The thoughts raced through Saff's head as she stared at the Herald.

  _:And if he tries, I'll trample him.:_  Kara's voice sounded ominous.

  _:We _all_ will sister mine.:_  Saff jerked her head up at the strange male voice in her head, noticing at the same time that Lexa cocked her head to one side, as if listening to something.

  _:Bloody minded today, aren't we?:_  Now another voice in her head, one that sounded like Lexa.

  The Herald seemed about to continue when something made her look at Saffri.  The girl was pale and was looking at her in an odd way.

  "Who was that?"  Saff asked tentatively.

  Lexa bit back an exclamation.  "You heard Jass?"

  "Y-ess…"  The girl looked at her again.  "I think so, and you too."

  Lexa Felt Jass laugh in the back of her mind.  _:I told you Kara said she had very strong Mindspeech.:_  The Companion's sending was pitched at a private level, directed only at his Herald.

  Derran broke the silence.  "Is there something wrong?"  He looked from newly Chosen to Herald.

  Lexa blinked.  "No, no!  Saffri here just heard Jass, that is all, no, sweetie, there's nothing wrong with you hearing us.  It just means you have very strong Mindspeech."

  "Oh." Saff looked more comfortable, but still a little confused.  "Um, what is Mindspeech?"  She asked.

  Lexa hit her forehead with the heel of one hand.  "Sorry, Mindspeech is a Gift.  It's the one that allows you to speak with your Companion and other people.  It also allows you to sense other people's thoughts, if you have both forms of it."  Saff's face flooded with understanding.  "And from the look of it, you do.  I'd better teach you how to shield before we do anything else.

  Lexa perched on the edge of the bed and patted a spot next to her until Saffri sat gingerly next to her.  "What do I have to do?"  She asked worriedly.

  Lexa smiled at her.  "It'll all become clear in a moment, for now just close your eyes and try to reach out to me, with your mind."

  Saffri sighed, not entirely understanding, and shut her eyes.  With a bit of nudging from Kara, she found herself once again within the crystalline shields, with a golden-yellow presence on the outside.

  _:Would you lower your shields please Kara?:_  The golden glow asked.  Saffri belatedly realised that it was Lexa.  She Felt Kara give her assent, and the glowing shields thinned, before vanishing totally.

  Saff felt suddenly swamped, as the minds of the three Companions and three other humans filled her own.  Before she could panic, she felt-saw Lexa reach out towards her.  Saffri responded almost instinctively, realising that this reaching out was how she had always tracked game and watched for trouble.

  Once they were linked, the Herald showed her how to centre herself, so that nothing could push her out of herself unless she chose it, and how to build her own shields.  Lexa also showed her how to change the shields to adapt in case of attack, before dropping out of the meld and leaving Saffri to herself.

  Saffri looked in wonder at the shields, _her_ shields.

  _~They're so beautiful.~_

  _:That they are, two-feet.:_

_  :Kara?:_  Saffri was surprised, and could Feel the amusement from the Companion.

  _:Naturally.  I'm afraid that we are stuck inside each other's heads.  You can't shield me out fully, nor can I you.  Not that I'd want to.:_  The Companion added that last slightly hastily.

  _:I don't mind!:  _Saffri replied happily, already used to the idea of having Kara always there.  _:How could I mind?!:_

_  :Why, thank you.:_  Kara sounded even more amused.  _:I'm going to be the envy of Companion's Field at this rate!:_

  Saffri laughed and turned her attention outside.  With a slight popping sensation, she found herself blinking once again at the other occupants of the Waystation.

  "Oh," she said, "that is so much better!  Thank you Herald Lexa!"

  Lexa smiled.  "It's just Lexa, sweetie.  And you're welcome." 

  "So, now that we have that sorted out, would you mind telling us about what happened to Bolten?"  The herald looked sideways at Saffri, who gulped and nodded, before beginning her explanation…

~***~

  "You've been back there, haven't you?"  Saff asked, almost in a whisper, once she had finished telling the three humans and the Companions what had happened.  The Companions had moved inside near the beginning of Saff's tale, commenting that it was far too cold outside.  Lexa nodded.

  "I know some things, that the supposed Father Jaric was nothing of the sort, for instance.  I really need to know why he did it.  I mean, I've heard of Bloodpath mages raiding villages, even slaying villages, for sacrifices, but never of one who moved in as a Priest for near on two years."

  Saffri took a deep breath.  "He told me it was how he got his power."  She said quietly.  "He said that he'd move into a village and gain their trust, then he'd get into their heads somehow."

  Lexa looked grim.  "Mind control, there was evidence of Bloodmagic contamination on all of the villagers to some degree.  But why?"

  "To turn them against the person in the village that he wanted.  He said that he stole peoples Gifts by turning them m—mad.  He had to turn the others against his v-victim because the act of getting the Gifts from them drove them insane, or killed them."  Saff stumbled slightly over the words and that scene in the chapel came back to her.

  "He didn't want suspicions raised."  Yarrin sounded grim as he finished for her, and Derran sat silent, an appalled look on his face.  _:That's monstrous.:_  he Sent quietly to Zirri, and felt her silent agreement.

  Lexa put an arm briefly around Saff's shoulders, giving her a quick hug.  "Unfortunately the piece of sketi had gotten away by the time we got there.  I know it's hard sweetie."  Lexa released Saff and looked at her.  "I know you have exceptionally strong Mindspeech, but from what you told us, this Jaric also had a fair amount of the Gift himself, given how he tried to get to you."  The Herald sounded slightly puzzled.

  Kara filled Saff's mind with warmth.  _:Show them why.:_  she said.

  _:The fire?  That I'm a Firestarter?:_  Saff sent back nervously.

  _:Yes.:_  The Companion sounded calm.  _:You have very good control of it already, look at how you managed to flame only those weapons at the village.:_

_  :O-kay…:_  Saff still felt nervous, and a little scared.  She realised that even in this short time, she had come to regard the Heralds and Healer as friends, people to be trusted, and she didn't want to spoil that now.

  "M—Mindspeech isn't my only Gift.  He—Jaric said I had another.  That was the one he wanted, he tried to kill me once it activated.  He said that if I used it then all the mages and heralds nearby would know."

  Derran thought back to his vision, and to the sight of the roiling cloud clawing its way skywards.  "He wasn't wrong, what exactly is this Gift?"  He smiled as he said this, not wanting to scare the girl.  In his opinion, she'd been through more than enough recently.

  Saffri shifted on the bed slightly, so that she was facing the hearth fire.  "This is my other Gift."  She said simply, before turning to stare at the fire.

  _~I Call you fire, you are mine and I am yours, you will do what I want.~_  Saffri didn't know where the words came from, they just seemed to fit somehow.  This time there was no panic in her as she felt her mind twine with the flickering flames of the fire.  She was the one in control.

  Before five sets of startled eyes, the hearth fire suddenly went out, no smoking or anything.  One minute there was a crackling fire, the next, just a pile of wood and charcoal.  

  As the two Heralds exchanged surprised glances with their Companions, Yarrin walked over to the fire and hesitantly held out a hand to the coals.  Feeling no heat, he touched them.

  "They're cold!"  He exclaimed, turning back to face the others, surprise etched on all his features.

  Saff smiled weakly at him.  "Stand back."

  The Healer shuffled away from the hearth and joined the Heralds in staring first at the dead coals, and then at Saffri.

  Her face took on a look of concentration, and her eyes glazed over slightly, and sparkled in a disconcerting manner.

  There was a soft "woomph" sound from the hearth, and suddenly the fire was there again, dancing merrily around the coals as though it had never left.

  As five shocked face turned to look at the newly Chosen Firestarter, her Companion moved to stand next to her, amusement written in her every line.

  _:You should see the looks on your faces!:_  Kara commented mischievously before turning to nuzzle at Saffri's cheek.

  "Well," everyone turned to look at Lexa, "that was certainly a surprise." 


	8. A New Dawn, A New Day

~evil-cat saunters in~Disclaimer!All Valdemar related concepts such as Heralds, Companions, Haven, and, of course, Valdemar itself, are the property of the wonderful Mercedes Lackey!

# Chapter 7- A New Dawn, A New Day…

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Saffri still half believed that she was dreaming, or dead.The changes that had swept through her life in the past few weeks were enough to make anybody shake their head in disbelief.A few short weeks ago Saff had been a virtual outcast in a Pelagir/Border village of Valdemar, a loner who had kept to herself and thought that she was going mad because she kept on hearing voices in her head.A few short weeks ago, Saff had discovered that the so-called village Priest, one Father Jaric, was nothing of the sort, he was a Bloodpath Mage and he wanted her dead.A few short weeks ago Saffri's Gift's had exploded into life under the onslaught of the aforementioned Mage as he tried to make good on his intent to kill her.

Saffri looked about herself slowly, still marvelling at the changes that had happened.Rather than being a corpse in some ditch somewhere, or a raving lunatic, here she was, heading towards Haven, the capital of Valdemar.And that wasn't the end to the changes.Not only was she heading to the capital city, but she was doing in the company of two Heralds and their Companions, and more, she herself was riding a Companion and wearing a cast off set of Derran's Greys.

_~Maybe I really did go mad.~_Saff thought wryly to herself._~He succeeded, and I'm a raving lunatic, locked inside my own fantasies whilst I wander about the village and Forest and sleep in ditches.~_

Saff's mount looked backwards at her with one sapphire eye.

_:That is one of the silliest things I have ever heard!:_The Companion's Sending was mixed with amusement and disbelief, which caused Saffri to chuckle silently.

_:I do apologise, oh wise one.:_She Sent in reply, and got a snort for her troubles.

Saffri extracted herself from her slightly maudlin thoughts and shifted her weight in Kara's saddle.As soon as she had been well enough Lexa had insisted that they leave for Haven, Saff wasn't entirely sure what the rush was, but she had a suspicion that it was in order to get her, and her still unpredictable Gifts, far away from Bolten.And also away from the Pelagirs and Jaric, who had escaped before Lexa could get her hands on him.

Kara was obviously still following Saff's thoughts, not exactly hard given how tightly they had Bonded, as she broke her silence again._:That man—thing is _not_ going to get hold of one single hair off of you.:_She insisted._:I'm willing to lay bets that the half toasted coward is still running away from Bolten and into the Pelagirs.:_

Saff leaned forwards and absently stroked Kara's neck, causing her to curve it and sigh in satisfaction._:I know four-feet.I'm still going to worry about it though.:_

_:I suppose it's only natural.:_Kara sighed, her warm breath briefly forming clouds that wreathed around her head as she continued to follow Jass along the hard-packed snow surface of the trade road._:I doubt we will ever see him again however.One of the Heralds that came with the MindHealers for Bolten is a Wingsister to the Hawkbrothers.Jass told me that she's going to suggest that the Hawkbrothers have a little winter hunting expedition.:_Saff could feel Kara's amusement, tinted with a touch of bloodlust, along with that last sentence.

_:I never saw any Hawkbrothers when I was in the Forest.:_

_:Believe me, they would've been there.I almost wish we were still back there…:_

Saff smiled._:You,:_ she admonished, _:are very bloodthirsty for a horse, four-feet!:_

_:I am not a horse!:_Kara snorted loudly in indignation and altered her gait for a few beats, thoroughly jarring Saff's bones.

_:Okay, okay.You're the most wonderful Companion that ever was.Happy?:_

_:Say it again and I may forgive you.:_Kara twisted her head slightly and Saffri could see her blue eyes sparkling with wicked amusement.

"Heyla!"Zirri jogged up beside them as the road widened.Derran looked from Companion to Trainee."Now what are you two laughing about?"

Both of them gave Derran identical looks of injured innocence, causing Zirri to bob her head and whicker in amusement.

"Us?" Saffri held a hand up to her chest."What in the Havens makes you think that we would be up to something?"

_:We're totally innocent.:_Kara added.

"That's right."Saffri nodded."We're totally innocent."

Derran returned their looks with an amused disbelieving one of his own."I heard already.You're Broadsending again Kara."

_:Oops.:_The Companion didn't sound particularly remorseful, which elicited another whicker from Zirri.

Derran drew himself up in the saddle and tried to look as dignified as a Herald could when his Companion was shaking with laughter."Honestly, children!I was never tha—"

_:Yes you were.:_Zirri cut him off._:Not too long ago either, grand-daddy.:_

Saffri dissolved into laughter as Kara relayed what Zirri had said to her and Derran gave in to the inevitable and joined in the laughter.

Lexa looked back over her shoulder at the pair of laughing Trainees.

_:Children.:_ She commented wryly to Jass._:Were we ever that young?:_

The Companion craned his head round to look at the laughing group._:Oh, we were once, then time caught up with us.It is good that they are doing that though.I doubt poor Saffri had much of a normal childhood, and just being able to laugh with others of nearly the same age as her is good for her.:_

_:That is true.:_Lexa sighed quietly and peered down the road._:Is it me or are we nearly home?:_She asked Jass.

Jass lifted his head slightly and scented the breeze._:We are nearly there.:_He confirmed._:We'll see Haven as soon as we round this bend, I can smell the tanners already.:_The Companion wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste.

"I know dearling,"Lexa said sympathetically, before raising her voice and looking back at the Trainees."Saffri, Derran, we're about half a marl out of Haven, if you want to come up here Saffri, you'll get the first look at your new home."

Saffri sat up in the saddle slightly, her heart beat quickening.Kara picked up her excitement and obligingly picked up her pace, jogging forward until she was level with her brother.

As she reached Jass the group reached the turn in the road and Saffri found herself looking at the capital city of Valdemar.The icy landscape fell away before them before rising slightly as it reached the slight hill that Haven was sprawled over the crown of.The crystal clear air made it seem as if Saff could reach out and touch the buildings that huddled up against the outer wall of the city, but the winding road twining away from them towards the city indicated that there were a few mile to go yet.

"It's so _big_—I mean, uh…"Saff trailed off and blushed slightly as Lexa looked over at her.

"Don't worry about it youngling,"Lexa commented with a wry grin, "all us Border brats say that the first time we see Haven."

"Border brat, you?!"Saffri sounded disbelieving, causing Lexa to chuckle and nod in confirmation, an action that was echoed by Jass, who whickered and bobbed his head.

_:I remember when Jass got the Call and went for Lexa.:_Kara said to Saffri._:I was only a foal when big brother there went gallivanting off after his Chosen.They didn't get back to the Collegia for almost a month.:_

"A month?"Saff's mouth hung open slightly as she looked at Lexa.

Lexa laughed."Yes, a month.I'm from a village over near the Hardornen Border, so I was as much a country bumpkin as was possible when I arrived, pretty much like half of the Herald Trainees."

"Oh."Saff went quiet and contemplated that as they chimed their way ever closer to the outskirts of Haven.

The ramshackle looking collection of rough-built work-sheds and that crept out from the city walls were not exactly what Saff had pictured when she had previously thought of Haven, the massive stone walls that encircled the city proper _were_ however, and Saff gaped slightly and craned her head backwards to look up at the vaulted ceiling of the tunnel through the wall.The pair of guards stationed outside the gate, and on the wall above it had ignored them, except to call out greetings or to wave.

Saffri concluded that having a Companion was a pretty much guaranteed pass to the city.Kara snorted with amusement as she followed that thought.

_:This is the South Gate, Chosen.:_she informed Saffri._:The buildings are going to get grander in short order.We're going to go the shorter route up to the Collegia, so you won't see many of the big houses or public buildings.:_

_:Shorter?:_Saffri asked.

_:Yes.:_Kara confirmed._:We're going to take shortcuts through alleys and the like.The 'proper' way around the streets will take too long because all the roads are arranged in a spiral.The others and I are rather looking forward to getting home and having a nice hot mash and I thought that you'd probably want to get off my back as soon as possible.:_The sending was tinged with amusement.

Before Saffri could think of a reply, Jass turned off the narrow street that the Companions had been pacing down and cut into an alley that was gloomy and damp, the overhanging eaves and upper stories of the crowded buildings obscuring the weak winter sun from reaching the ground.The chill of the alley had barely touched her bones when Saffri suddenly found herself back in the sunlight as the group emerged from the alley into a wide street that was lined with more prosperous buildings, most with their ground floors converted to shops.This street had more traffic on it than the others they had so far traversed and the Companions were now required to slow their pace and wind their way through the pedestrians and wagons that milled about.

Zirri drew level with Kara and Derran reached over to touch Saff's arm.Saffri looked over at him, slightly startled, as she had been avidly crowd watching, this being the most number of people she had ever seen, and revelling in the fact that her shields kept them out of her head and nothing more than a slight pressure.

"Having fun?"He asked with a smile.

"Oh, yes."Saffri smiled back."It's not what I would've expected though, it's all so _big_."

"I suppose it is."Derran looked about as they made another cut through a half hidden alleyway and emerged on an even wider street, lined with equally more imposing buildings."I grew up round here,"he said offhandedly, "my family own property around here.I was going to be a courtier, or something else equally as pointless and boring until Zirri came for me."

"You're a _noble_?!"Saff hissed slightly, sounding shocked."You don't seem to be a—"She broke off as her brain caught up with what her mouth was saying."Um… sorry."Saff looked contrite.

Derran laughed at her expression."Believe it or not, I have pretty much the same view of certain parts of the nobility that you do.Some of them are social butterflies, my older brother among them, and unfortunately the stereotype that they seem to encourage stains everyone else."

Lexa chuckled and spoke backwards over her shoulder."Convincing argument there Derran." She commented."Now I remember why the Dean told me encourage your orations, you'll do well as an ambassador."

Derran blushed hotly."Now Lexa-" He began, but stopped when he became aware that all three Companions were snickering and that Lexa herself had a slight grin on her face.

"And that, young Saff, is how you stop one of Derran's little lectures in it's path."Lexa informed the slightly bemused looking girl with a wink."He does have a tendency to go on a bit if he gets the bit between his teeth.

Saff bit her lip to keep from smiling as Derran looked slightly miffed.

"I'm not that bad."He said aggrievedly, with a bit of a pout.

Lexa raised an eyebrow at that, and Zirri gave her Chosen a look that indicated that if Companions had eyebrows, she would also be raising one.

"Well maybe kind of."

Zirri snorted agreement and whickered as the three Companions chimed their way onto a road that was really a boulevard, with wide sweeping curves and bare trees lining the pathways that led off the main road and into small parks and formal gardens and the curving driveways of the grand houses.

These soaring edifices were only of brief interest to Saffri as they turned a corner and she suddenly found the ancient grey stone wall of the palace compound rearing skywards in front of the Companion's noses.Set into the wall was another gateway, this one much smaller than the gate in the main city gates.The pair of guards at this gate emerged from a doorway set into the side of the gate tunnel itself and walked up to the now stationary Companions.

Both guards wore a dark blue uniform, highlighted here and there with silver trim and the older looking guard also carried a clipboard and silver stick.The guard squinted up at Lexa for a moment, and then his face cleared and he smiled in welcome.

"Welcome back Herald Lexa." He said, and marked something off on one of his sheets of paper."And welcome to you too Trainee Derran."He added as he ticked something else off.

Lexa leaned forwards in her saddle."Glad to be back Rolf," she said, "anything drastic happened while we've been gone?"

"Arr, not much."The older guard scratched his greying hair briefly as he looked up at the sky."All been pretty quite as near as I can tell.Only had one more Companion go out for Choosing since you left."

Lexa indicated Saffri and Kara with a smile."I know."She said.

Rolf looked at the pair."Well know,"he said happily, "Companion Kara and Chosen all present and correct.You'd better go up to the Collegia, they'll be expecting you."The guardsman made a final note on his sheaf of papers, stood aside and waved them through.The silent guard also stood to one side and briefly smiled at the Companions and their passengers as they chimed past.

Once through the immensely thick wall, Saff found herself outside in the sunlight, moving easily up a slightly inclined paved road towards what could only be the Palace and Collegia complex.

_:It's so big.:_She said to Kara who whickered in reply.

_:Those seem to be your favourite words at the moment.:_The Companion snickered._:We're not heading directly towards the Palace, you'll see in a moment the main part of Heraldic Collegia, it's joined onto the side of the Palace and that large area of green to the left is Companion's Field.:_Kara nodded her head towards the vast acreage that was laid out before them as they crested the top of the rise.

"Oh, my."Saff said weakly, earning another set of sympathetic smiles from Lexa and Derran.

The Field was vast, extending out into the distance where it blurred into the darker green of what was obviously a woodland.Winding through the Field, from mid-distance on the left, to near on the right was a wide river that was spanned in places by artfully carved and constructed bridges.

_:That's the Terilee River.:_Kara said quietly.

Scattered around the snow covered Field were groups of incandescent white shapes.Saff was slightly puzzled, until she got a look at one of the groups near to the fence where they were riding by.

_~Other Companions.~_As she realised this, no few of the heads of the Companions raised and turned and Saff found herself the scrutiny of several pairs of blue eyes, at least, she presumed so, she could only see the eyes of the Companions closest to the small group she was part of, but the stance and movements of the Companions further out in the Field indicated that they were also looking with some interest at the travellers.

The strange Companions seemed to reach a silent consensus and began to meander towards the Collegia complex and Saff's eyes were drawn to the buildings she and the others were fast approaching.

The Palace itself was a strange mix of old, very old and new.There were parts of it that clearly dated back almost to the Founding, harsh grey stone walls that definitely achieved the primary elements of a martial keep; to be very big and very much there for as nigh on eternity as was possible.The newer looking parts of the Palace, including parts of the Heraldic Collegia were constructed of a mixture of seasoned wood and stone of a slightly lighter grey.The newer parts of the Palace were also more like Saff had imagined them to be, sweeping architecture and graceful looking towers and turrets.

The fence that marked the edge of the Companion's Field had been running parallel to the path that Jass and the others were chiming along but now it dipped away from the path, running out more into the Field, giving a large, roughly semi-circular area, bordered on one side by the river in front of a large wooden building.The area itself was swept clean of snow, revealing a pounded flat sandy area which the three Companions now moved slowly across.

_:This is home.:_Kara said suddenly to Saff._:The wooden building in front of us is the Companion Stables.:_She whickered with amusement and flicked an ear as she regarded the curious looking Companions that had moved in from the Field and now waited for the three recent arrivals in an open-sided shed-like affair that was heated by a series of closed stoves._:And it looks like I have a lot of explaining to do.I didn't exactly say goodbye when I left.:_

_:Will you be in trouble?:_Saff asked anxiously, biting her lip as she rather stiffly dismounted from the Companion at the urging of a groom.

_:Oh, of course not!:_The Companion rubbed her soft nose against Saffri's cheek._:I told Rolan where I was going, well, I told him that I was going out on Search.The others are just curious.I'll introduce them to you later if you'd like.:_

_:Thank you, I would like.:_

_:That's settled then!See you later two-feet!:_

Saff became aware that Lexa was looking at her."All done youngling?"The Herald asked kindly."You can come and see Kara any time you feel like, we just need to get you enrolled in the Collegia now.

"Okay."Saff agreed, with a last look at the Companions who had moved into the warmth of the shed and were obviously deep in conversation with their peers as the grooms removed their tack and began to brush them down.

Derran fell into step with Saffri as Lexa led them across the front of the stables and round the side heading for, Saff saw, a set of fair sized double doors leading into what she presumed was the Collegia itself.

"Having fun?"Derran looked sideways at Saff, trying to judge her reaction.She seemed to be handling the enormous changes that had tipped her life upside down in the past few weeks.

"Oh, umm…I'm not sure really."Saff said honestly."Everything is so different and well, I'm sure I'll get used to it."She half grinned across at Derran who bowed mockingly at her and held open one of the doors for her."Why thank you m'lord."

"Ah, don't you start!"Derran pulled a face at her as they moved along the brightly lit wooden corridor."I get enough of that off Zirri."

Lexa chuckled at the pair."Now, now children."She chided gently.A few paces later she stopped at a honey coloured wooden door and knocked loudly.At the sound of a voice from the other side of the door Lexa opened it and ushered the two Trainees inside.

"Ah, Lexa.Good to see you back."Saff looked around the cluttered office, trying to find the speaker."Over here child."The voice came from behind a pile of paper upon, what on closer inspection appeared to be, a desk.

The man stood up as Lexa gingerly perched herself on the edge of an equally loaded chair.

"Elcarth, are you _ever_ going to sort this lot out?"she inquired.

"Oh, some day, I imagine."The man said airily."Every time I try to someone seeds more bits of paper in here."

Saffri got a close look at the man as he spoke with Lexa, he appeared small and almost birdlike.He noticed her scrutiny and turned to smile at her.

"Welcome to Haven, my dear."He said."I'm Dean Elcarth and I'm in charge of the running of the Heraldic Collegia, I presume that you are Saffri, Kara's Chosen?"

At Saff's look of surprise the Dean chuckled."Companions are notorious gossipers and my own gossiper has been chatting away to Jass, Kara and Zirri since they entered the city."

Lexa cleared her throat before Elcarth could continue."Sorry to interrupt, but Derran and I need to report, I'm sure we'll both see you later Saffri."

"Of course, of course, we'll be alright, won't we?"The Dean looked at Saffri.

"Oh, yes."Saffri looked at the Herald and sat down as he motioned towards a chair that was slightly less buried under files and papers.Derran smiled at her again before following Lexa out of the door, leaving Saffri alone with the Dean in his hideaway of an office.

"Now young miss, lets get an idea of how much you know so I can place you in classes…"_ _

~cat wanders in~Ooo…this is a new place to be, down here at the bottom.~cat look around~ I like it, more peaceful without that hellion of an evil-cat prancing about attacking people with a pointy stick…

Thank you!Thank you! Once again to all my reviewers, glad that you're enjoying it still!Timeframe wise (for Misura)I've kinda tentatively set 'Hunt' at some point after the Storms books so there are mages, but they're obviously a bit limited due to the lack of ley lines apart from the ones re-established by the Alliance mages!

~cat will stop now~ lol


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